Face It Again
by BlackDevil WhiteDemon
Summary: "You know what the definition of insanity is?" Lance questioned. A laugh bubbled up his throat. He didn't wait for the other's answer. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Pidge opened her mouth to say something. "Albert Einstein." He snapped. "Yes, I know. We all know Pidge." ((Time Loop AU))
1. 8th Loop

**Based on:** on post on tumblr. Put the beinging URL and then my username + post/160757803826/time-loop-au-where-lance-n-blue-go-thru-this-one#notes

* * *

By the 8th loop, Lance had learned a few rules about the time loops.

Rule 1: Any self-inflicted injury that does not kill him, will stay as a scar. (If said injury _can_ warrant a scar. Ex: Any bruises will not show up, but cuts will.)

Rule 2: Everything resets to the night he, Hunk, and Pidge (plus Keith) found Blue and Shiro.

Rule 3: The loop will end and reset once they fight Zarkon for the last time. If the loop doesn't led into that direction, the time of which they should've been doing such; everything will reset. (Ex: Once, Lance actually got things to be very differently than what really happened. While everyone was fighting a race they never met in the alpha timeline, everything suddenly just restarted.)

Rule 4: If he dies or kills himself, the timeline will reset. (This rule **only** applies to him. If anyone else dies, time will continue until the loop ends.)

Rule 5: He is the only non-constant. Nothing else never changes unless he does something to change it or that leads up to the change.

Rule 6: Only he remembers.

Going off on rule 1, he had a cut on his hand right, index finger particularly; from the time he ran his finger along the blade of Keith's dagger in the 4th or 5th loop. Honestly he doesn't even know what he was thinking back then. Then there was another scar from the 6th loop. Where he was in a situation where he had to stab himself. Of course, this didn't kill him, and when the timeline reset, he had a scar daunting his lower abdomen.

Those were proof enough that rule 1 existed. He had been hurt by others before, but the injury never showed back up as a scar next loop. So when Lance found what seemed to be an Altean hair pin. He decide to do something stupid. He didn't know how many loops he would have to go through. And quite frankly, the idea of losing count of what loop it was terrified him. It was something he knew, something he had knowledge about that no one else can know. And while yes, Lance knew what was going to happen. It was kinda hard to warn or tell the others sometimes. It was times like those where he wished everyone didn't view him as goof.

Well, he **could** change that though.

And he did, this time loop he decided he wasn't going to fool around or do any flirty behavior. Now on the other hand, not flirting with Nyma (plus siding with Hunk) ended up with more...violent results to say the least. Regardless, he had free time right now, and was going to do it.

He was going to cut small lines into himself. Nothing too deep, just enough to leave a scar for next time. The hair pin was oddly sharp, but if he remembered correctly, didn't women in the Victorian Era wear large hair pins to stab any would-be harasser or robbers? Or maybe that was French women...he didn't remember. But the reason behind the hair pin being so sharp might have to do with a similar thing as that. He winced in pain as he bought the pointed end onto his left arm. It was right by the inner elbow, on the lower half of his arm. He couldn't help himself, and his breaths became more shaky. Because _ow this shit hurts_.

When he was done. There was a 5 tally mark and 3 single tally marks. Blood seeped from his thin wounds. Not too much, but enough that Lance had to go to his room's bathroom to wash it off. Which, also wasn't very pleasant either. "And there should be bandaids in the med bay...right?" _Oh, I didn't think this through!_ Lance sighed, guess he just have to find out. Using a semi-wet towel as a makeshift bandage, he threw his hoodie over it as to not arouse any suspicion. Because quite honestly, he would have no way to explain why he did this to the others this timeline. Specially because most of them thought he was the quite chill type. (As he tried not to speak to much.) Hunk and Pidge on the other hand were confused with his 'sudden behavior change'. Using his good acting skills, he pretended he couldn't really process all of this and that he could die any day daunted on him from day one. Saying that he was just sacred. And they believed him, saying that they understand and they were going to get through this together.

This in turn caused Hunk to keep a closer eye on him and for Pidge to be nicer. But her being nicer could also stem from the fact he didn't really say anything to warrant her remarks.

Whatever, that wasn't going to matter in time anyway. He was just going to wake back up in bed at the Garrison once the loop met its end. Lance looked up at the doors before him. It was the doors to the medical bay. They opened automatically and he stepped inside. It was barren and empty. "Great." He mumbled. He searched around the place for a while, remembering that in one loop he saw Coran opened a panel that had typical medical supplied in it. "Where the heck is that panel?" His hand stroked the walls up and down trying to find it. "I swear to God if I can't find it before the alarm goes off–"

 _'Swoosh!'_ A tray of some sorts popped out of the wall and hit him smack in the stomach.

"Ow!" _Oh._

* * *

Lance walked down the corridor, his arm was bandaged and his hoodie was zipped up. He made away towards the control room of the ship. You see, another thing he noticed is that sometimes, doing something another way will cause/trigger some other unrelated event to occur. The only proof of this he really had was what happens if he doesn't let Nyma take Blue. While in this loop she didn't steal Blue; there had also been two other time loops were she didn't. That would be the 1st time loop and the 3rd. He thinks... He wasn't so sure which loop was the second one exactly. Regardless, Nyma not stealing his lion caused...well...this to happen.

 _'Beep Beep Beep'_

The lights went to a hue of red. Lance frowned. He knew what the princess was going to say. "Paladin! Get to the control room immediately!" There she goes. He rolled his eyes and ran the rest of the way. He got there first, out of breath and panting. He gave her a look of _'What's wrong?'_ She looked at him in surprise, she didn't think anyone would there real quick. She opened her mouth to give him a quick run down, but as Lance expected, the other bursts through the doors.

"Princess! What's wrong?" Shiro was the first to speak before the rest of them asked their questions. Coran ran over to the control panel to input some stuff as Allura explained.

"There is an large asteroid heading towards a planet. If it gets hit, the damage will be catastrophic. You need to form Voltron to destroy the asteroid."

Lance looked tried. _This again? It's not going to end well..._

* * *

His team took out the asteroid without too much of a struggle. Lance knew he couldn't just automatically suggest what to do. So he let them come up with ideas, that wouldn't really work before suggesting they do the tactic he knew would work.

The team went along with it and sure enough, the threat was neutralized. "Good thinking Lance, that really helped." He still felt a swell of pride inside as Shiro praised him. Yes, he knew that technically, it was Keith's and Hunk's idea. Born from them arguing over which to do before meeting in the middle. But that won't happen until much later, and Lance didn't want everyone to put so much effort and time into this. Not after what he knew. This planet was no good. A bunch of thieves who set up things like this. They had the proper cannons to destroy the asteroid. In fact, they were the ones who grabbed the damn thing and hulled it on a course for their planet. _What a bunch of sleazeballs._ He thought dimly. They just wanted the technology of others. Destroying the asteroid was their way of a test. Pass it, and they 'invite' you over to 'celebrate'. Before killing you and throwing the others into prison. They kept you around to understand how your tech works. And once that's done. They get rid of the rest. Seriously, he hated these people. And he's only met them twice! _'bout to be three times._

* * *

Lance tried to stay as close to Allura as he could. Shiro was the one who was, and when he questioned Lance's choices. He responded with a shrug. "I don't know man. I just have a terrible feeling about this place. And for some reason I feel the need to act as Allura bodyguard?"

Shiro shot a quick glance over to her direction, she seemed fine. "Look, I get it. This seems a bit too shady. I admit. But she's seems fine, okay? Just relax. You're always so up tight." He use his human hand to squeeze Lance's shoulder.

 _Funny you of all people should say that. Especially to me..._

* * *

Lance heard the princess talk to one of the higher ranking officer? He wasn't exactly sure who this person was, but he knew at this time. Someone else would sneak up to stab her. In the 1st loop, Allura got stabbed in the stomach area and everything went to hell. The paladins got out their bayards to attack and get her out of there. Likewise, the navies started attacking as well. In the 3rd loop (if it was the third loop) Lance shoved her aside and _he_ got stabbed instead. As he bleed out on the floor (he still tried to shoot people, but after a while he thinks he passed out) the others started to attack while Allura fled to get back to the castle to attack the place and leave.

This time he was going to make sure no one was getting stabbed. Expect maybe the alien hosts. Screw them.

He didn't say anything. Just stood behind her and as he saw the bastard that was going to just hurt her, he pulled the princess back and held her against him while he took out his bayard and activated it. He pointed it right at the guy's face. He dropped his knife and Lance growled the best he could at him. He felt a tap on his hand and let go of her. "Sorry I just reacted quickly." She glared at him for a second, and Lance almost felt angry. _Like, really? You're mad at me? I just saved you._

Then she noticed what the alien was going to do. "This is a set up!" She yelled. And the other got their weapons to attack. Lance felt a tinge of happiness as he pulled the tigger to shot the bastard that stab him and Allura in different timelines. You see, this situation was a lot different. No one got stabbed, so everyone reacted differently. And now that everyone could fight, things would come out differently. Change was a blessing now; it meant a different experience than the same cycle he was fated to relive, again and again and again. He didn't used like change, like most people. But now? It was a blessing.

* * *

 **Part of arm he starts the Tally's on:** ((URL FOR GOOLGE IMAMGS)) imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F% .net%2Fuploads%2Fthings%2Fimages%2F33220999_140527_1508_ &imgrefurl=https%3A%2F% .com%2Fcourse%2F321014%2Fbasic-english-for-chinese-speakers-2%2F18%2F&docid=fV_jLGelBCv8_M&tbnid=pVWQmj9awwrInM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjW7LLhw7nVAhWMwYMKHeykBBIQMwitASgAMAA..i&w=1145&h=545&hl=en&client=safari&bih=416&biw=320&q=arm%20inside&ved=0ahUKEwjW7LLhw7nVAhWMwYMKHeykBBIQMwitASgAMAA&iact=mrc&uact=8


	2. 25th Loop

**This chapter took way too long to write and was terrible. I had writer's block for this for the longest time. Again, I really do not like how I wrote this chapter. That's why it took so long. Also I kinda lost interest in Voltron, however I do fancy the plots I made for my Voltron fics. So I will be continuing them, but updates will take wayyyyy too long to arrive.**

* * *

You know what's really hard? Trying to convince a group of people of something that sounds very bizarre. Especially when you only really know two of them. Well three, but Keith never really payed any mind to Lance's presence back at the Garrison. So really, only two out of the six people knew him there. And every single time, the loop would just reset. No one would remember anything. So really, when Lance finally gathered enough information about not only them, but on alien things and how some of the tech works. He finally decided it was about time he could finally convince them. He's tried many times before, but they would never believe him. Never thinking he was telling the truth. He could understand why now, he didn't tell them at the right times, he didn't do it under the correct circumstances or the conditions that would call for it! But he could now; he had enough information to. His mistake beforehand was telling them after they got a judgement of his character. He would have to tell them right after the introduction of the two Alteans. He had to tell them right away. Well, the soonest anyway.

* * *

Lance did it. Right when Allura and Coran were supposed to be explaining Voltron along with the Glara Empire and assign them their lions, he interrupted them before they could even begin. He rambled on, saying everything they were going to say and even told them a video would pop up. And guess what happened. Lance and the others looked at the screen. Sendak was as purple as ever and alive of course. He said what need to be said and everyone looked at Lance when the video dissipated. "We don't have much time. Only about 2 earth days. We have to hurry. I already know where all the lions are. Including Red." His eyes were hard and serious. He would have to tell them more later after they get all five lions and were off the planet Arus.

* * *

Well that was a hell of a doozy. So much shit happened. Lance warned them about basically everything, just like he did in some other loops. Abide, Lance wasn't as straight forward in the previous loops. All together they had prevented some moments or events from…happening to say the least. Now they had all five of the lions, two Glara soldiers in their midst as prisoners of course, Rover was still around, and the whole Balmera thing was avoided, as was the 'haunted castle' part. If this had been an earlier loop, Lance would've felt bad at the fact they skip the Balmera thing. But he couldn't care less about it anymore. It wasn't going to matter in the long run. Everything they do would be undone, so honestly, none of it actually mattered. Not anymore, anyway. "Man, my back..." Lance mumbled to himself, rubbing at his backside as much as he could. He wasn't sure why his back was acting up all the sudden, but he had better things to think about. That was going to have to be shoved over to the side. "You guys are all situated, right? Want to talk about this now?" He called over to the others as they took their seats onto the couch. Most of them still had their armor on. Ironically though, Shiro was already back in his normal clothes, and Allura was back in her dress rather than her 'battle attire'. Lance took off his helmet and stood before them. He took in a deep, but nervous breath in. Oh boy, did he have a lot to say. "Where do I even begin...?" He seemed to quietly muse over what needed to be addressed first. Perhaps...reinstating the fact he seems to know the future.

 **-Time Skip here bc I wanted to explained the origin stuff later-**

Keith furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you saying that's you're stuck in a timeloop, and this is number 25?" Everyone else was silent in the common room. Not wanting to talk or simply staring at Lance in disbelief. Plain ol' disbelief.

"Well...yes. How else would I have known all those things were going to happen? And before you counteract me, let me just say something." Lance rubbed at his face. He had to say something believable in the limited amount of Altean he knew. He still wasn't fluent by any means, but it was enough to turn heads in the previous loops. Maybe even then they might still think he's a spy, however, it was worth a shot. Lance took in the detail of everybody sitting down, Keith sitting hunched over himself, a confused but unconvinced look graced his face. Shiro was still and solid as ever. Well, at least he still looked like the Shiro Lance had first met in his original timeline. The Shiro he knew from his correct place in the timeline had been worn and torn by then. Everyone had been, by matter of fact. They had spent two years in space with one another after all. Allura looked confused yet intrigued, like she simply wanted to soak up any information she could. Coran on the other hand just looked weary; he and Lance didn't get a chance to bond this loop. He could practically feel the untrust seeping off of him. Which was kinda uncharacteristic, but not unheard of. _"I assure you, I'm speaking the truth."_ He spoke in Altean, sure as all hell that he at least butchered a few of the words. Maybe that will still work? The way things got translated made absolutely no fucking sense to him, but he ignored it. He'll learn how another time. Anytime really, but anytime is now every time and nothing makes sense to him anymore.

While Allura gasped, Coran simply had his mouth opened. Gasping like a fish out of water. The humans looked confused as ever, although Pidge had a raised eyebrow at him. Which for unknown reasons to him, made his skin tickle with anger of all things. It was a weird sensation, but it was there and it was going to leave eventually, right? "How did you...but—neither of us have spoken any Altean to-any of you yet." Allura looked like one at a lost. Everyone was quiet frankly, no one wanted to do anything. Or at least that is what it felt like to Lance. He rubbed his hands together in a nervous tick. They were giving him weird looks. That is until Shiro stood up; all eyes went on him, including Lance's. It was like a moth to a flame; somewhat pathetic, however there was a reason behind it. Moths used the stars in the sky as a navigation tool to find their way home. They would mistake artificial lights as the stars and get thoroughly confused. Shiro on the other hand was a symbol of authority aside from Allura literally being a fucking princess. All was drawn to him out of respect. "Lance..." Shiro having a slow enforce on his name made him snap out of his thoughts. "I think you should let us discuss this in private." His face was serious and harsh, it remind Lance of the times Shiro would brush him off or ignored him back in the alpha timeline; yup, that's what he called the original timeline. It had to have a cool title, alright?

The look made him prickle again with anger, that before used to upset him. Make him sad and sink deeper into himself. But now? When thinking about it, it only made him mad. Before he could respond Shiro spoke up again, his facial expression much softer this time. Maybe he was studying his reaction and realized he was going to protest. "Please? We're not going to do anything brash." Lance tilted his head to the side, gaze cast upon the floor. His lips were but a thin line. He had a point. There was no reason why he _shouldn't_ comply.

"If you insist." With that he turned to his 'team' with his back facing them and walked right out of the common room. He knew where to go. While he really wanted to know what they were going to say, he already had a pretty good idea how the general consensus would go. Right now he needed to do something else. The tally marks. He only had 24 adorning his upper arm. He didn't have time to add a new one to count this timelin—loop. Loop, it was a loop, not a timeline. He's still in the same timeline theoretically speaking. It doesn't really matter right now. Whatever, he'll debate with himself later. Lance just needed to find the Altean's hair pin and fix himself up at the med bay. It wasn't that hard. It's pretty easy and on top of that, he's done it quite a few times as well.

Before he knew it, Lance was clutching an overly-sized hair pin. Its oddly sharp pointy end reminded him of the times he forced himself to drag it against his skin. It felt painful, not as bad as he thought it would be honestly, but still painful nonetheless. From an outside perspective, this looked well, wrong. But he knew why he was doing this. It was a task. A task he set aside for himself. It was the only way to know for sure that he wasn't crazy; that he wasn't in some endless dream, or actually in the present, just gifted with the knowledge of what is to come.

No, this was physical proof that a loop was repeating again and again. This was to remind him how many times he's been through this hell. He just wanted it to stop...

"Ow!" He hissed at his own mistake, he pressed unnecessarily hard with the damp cloth over his thin small wound. He bit his bottom lip and sucked it up. It wasn't like the first time he did this, when he made 8 lines. The self-applied first aid he'd done to himself felt much more painful than now. He just needed to focus. He couldn't help it. It was going against his nature. Things were just like this now and the fact he's accepted it is sad.

Perhaps in the back of his mind, a small part of him thinks it's pathetic.

* * *

Lance stood awkwardly in the observatory, facing the others. He shifted and fiddled with the hem of his white and blue shirt. He didn't actually know what the others would say word from word. He didn't know what faces they would make or even the body language they would subconsciously perform and display. It...wasn't a total mystery however. He nonetheless had a vague idea in his head—but! It still was a guessing game. Which meant Lance had something else to learn, something...new to experience. His eyes met theirs and he waited for somebody else to speak. That somebody else turned out to be Pidge.

"You...you've been through time loops and you don't know why?" She took a step forward towards him. She had a face that told him she was analyzing both him and the situation at the moment. Classic Pidge.

Lance frowned and shook his head for no. He didn't really know why and that kept him up on numerous nights. Wondering...why the fuck he was here, why he still had to endure a loop that was about 3 fucking months long — beginning to end. Why couldn't it have been a loop that lasts a day? A week is ridiculous to repeat, but he had to go through 3 months. Of course; he didn't have to live out all of it, there was a shortcut. Death. But it was such an unpleasantness of a shortcut, however it would work and get the job done. Not that it would bring him a great deal of comfort. Doing that will still cause him to wake right back up in his bed at the Garrison. The fates must despise his existence. Utterly and completely. The end.

The others seemed to look at each other. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

His eyes widen. Did she...did she just really ask him that? "I'm sorry, what?" His voice was an octave higher. He was insulted, offended even.

Now it was Pidge's turn to narrow her eyes. She thought she was being straight forward, but _oh well_ , if she _must_ repeat herself. "I said-"

"I know what you said, Katie!" Lance snapped at her, the anger that was seeping from his skin earlier finally came back, in full forces this time. She looked shocked, astonished, something in the middle. The others looked confused yet surprised. He even heard Keith whisper 'Katie?' amongst them. However, Lance was at least paying enough attention to notice the expression that bloomed on Hunk's face that screamed epiphany. Or the look at Shiro's face that was a flurry of emotions he didn't bother distinguishing. Time to speak again. "I just can't _comprehend_ –!" He practically spat out the last word, he would've internally winced had it not been for the fact he didn't care — he didn't care because he was scared at what was happening to him. "How the hell could I be lying at this point?!" He had a hand over his chest; he could feel his eyes getting hot, tears ready to spill. But it didn't **matter** ! Nothing **mattered**! He would just die and wake up on Earth again, only to be pulled into this bullshit of a war he was already far into. It would put him right back at the beginning. He hated that, he hated it so much. "It doesn't-" He didn't finish his sentence. He choked at the words 'make sense' as they died in his throat. Warm salty tears were streaming down his face. The source of their presence were many. Anger, frustration, sadness, hopelessness. It was many. Many things in the same. He let them go, wiping away at them. He couldn't compose himself. He just...lost it.

* * *

It wasn't until after a semi-awkward and long hug from Hunk did he finally calm down. Lance looked weaker and a tad bit more frail. He didn't know how to feel, he just let himself brush his right thumb on Hunk's vest. Repeating the gesture for comfort. Grounding himself to make sure he was real, to make sure that this was all real. Or at least felt real... A thought occurred to him. He ignored the whispers of the others, instead his eyes widened and a smile of weariness spread across his face like wildfire. What the actual fuck was he doing? Why did _this-_? **This!** Why did _this_ **matter** to him? Why is he trying to convince these people? What was he expecting? Lance detached himself from Hunk's grip, completely ignoring Hunk's worried questions. He stood up, not bothering to take a step forward or shift at all. "What the fuck was I expecting? Why am I doing this? You guys aren't _them_." He held his head with his hands. He spat the last word out with malice.

It was laughable, he was laughing. These guys didn't really know him, they didn't know jackshit. Why was he wasting his time with a team that hasn't learned to respect him yet? Or even accept the fact he wasn't a useless idiot who never got serious, _no_. These were _strangers_. They are not the people he bonded with. That is not the Coran who stayed up with him on countless nights, recalling tales of his planet and people and letting Lance do the same. That was not the Shiro who made him cry out in frustration one day when Lance snapped. He was a mess babbling about how the other man didn't treat him like part of the team. Didn't take him seriously. That's not the Allura he developed a genuine crush on. Someone he grew to respect, something that became mutual over time. Someone he could talk to...and would give him a soft voice and a comforting yet somber hug back. This wasn't the Keith that nearly bled out to death in his arms, and that wasn't the younger girl that became like his little sister. That wasn't Katie. And this wasn't the same Hunk that cried to him about how much he wanted to die one night. He can recall that night still. It made his blood run cold.

Lance's eyes gazed over at Hunk. Maybe...maybe this version of him wasn't so bad. He still missed his real friends regardless and trying to talk to a former version of them was weird. God, why did he have to repeat these first 3 months? Why couldn't it have been the last couple of cycles* before the incident happened, but no! He had to have been thrown through time into their introduction of this seemingly endless war. This wasn't fair. He was in space for a year and months on end, but this was where he ends up? However this was a change. Lance was pretty certain they believed him. Maybe they just needed a push to admit it? Maybe...

Lance straightened his posture and let his arms fall to his sides. They just needed a little push. He looked up at them.

His inhale was shaky, but that was okay. He just needs to talk. "Pidge, your real name is Katie Holt, you're a girl. And Matt's your brother's name." Even though she had heard him earlier, she still gasped and Shiro looked at her with 'oh my god' eyes. Keith looked like he suddenly understood. Which makes sense, as Keith did know Matt back in the Garrison. "Allura you wore yellow when you were younger because your father's armor had yellow accents on it. Coran you used to have a ponytail." He took a step back and remembered the Alteans called it something else. "Tieback." He corrected himself. "Shiro you-" he ended up pointing at their 'leader'. "You...don't." Nah, he stopped himself there. He shouldn't blurt out that one. "You had a collection of Vocaloid merchandise. IA is apparently your waifu." Lance almost giggled, that fact was actually kinda funny. It didn't subside the anger or frustration he felt though. Now, something on Keith. "Keith's your Dad's name is Conner. He's from Texas."

"Wait what?!" Hunk's cry of surprise was almost funny as well. Keith had his mouth open like a fish out of water. _Huh, haven't used that expression in a_ while. And Shiro's eyes widen, as if recalling that, _yes_ , he had in fact a collection of Vocaloid mech. It started off as a joke, but it didn't end that way.

Lance stood up straight; he didn't have a smile on his face, but it wasn't a frown either. He wasn't sure what it was, it felt like nothing more than a squiggly line to him. "Is the verdict convinced? Or am I still guilty?"

Allura looked up at him. "Sure?" She didn't quite understand what he just said and thus didn't know how to reply properly. But she believed him, she didn't suspect he was a spy like the others did. The lion Blue did choose him after all.

* * *

The buzz around the castle was...queer at best. Lance wasn't exactly sure what everybody was going to do. In fact, the others didn't really seem to know what to do either. Yes, they still used the lions and took out a few Glara fleets here and there. But ultimately 'progress' as it was; was halted for the most part. Since everyone knew they were in a loop, going forward wasn't much of a solution. If anything that would spell out ignorance or perhaps stubbornness. The only thing that seem to be getting done was talking. A whole lot of it. Communication is great! Don't get him wrong, but there has to be a line between action and talk. At least fact and probable solutions were being thrown onto the metaphorical table. "Okay, so probably what's going on is that the time space continuum in which you last left from," she gestures towards Lance as the others silently watched, "is descended from that blast you describe. The immense energy and power emitted from that thing was unstable as it exploded and released energy everywhere. Maybe in trying to stabilize or at least level itself out again with everything around it caused you to experience, well, a time loop."

Hunk had his hand on his chin. "I don't know Pidge. Maybe it's because the energy that swallowed Lance's being up put him on a higher level of energy than what his body could take, so it set him back in time to expel the extra energy."

"No! That doesn't make any sense. This isn't SciFi!"

"We're in space! This is basic SciFi! And your answer sounds SciFi too!"

Lance watched with amusement as the two friends exchanged in conversation. They couldn't seem to agree on anything. They've been at it for awhile now. Tossing around theories to one another. Dismissing the other and shooting the other one down. Sometimes they seemed to like the explanation the other was brewing up, adding or breaking down smaller aspects of it. In the end though...

"We can't just believe our own separate theories! If we try to come up with a solution, each would be different and ideal depending on what we think happened! How could we collaborate if we don't think that's the right way to do it?" Pidge seemed absolutely frustrated. Her face turned into a shade of red signifying that she was mad or at least annoyed. A huff from her end. Crossed arms, she gave a challenging glare over at Hunk.

He seemed as passive as ever and shrugs it off. "We could just collaborate on a single solution based off one of our theories and if that doesn't work, we can move on to the next one. It's not that hard really." She opened her mouth once more to argue. But it seems she realized the general gist of what he was saying and deflated. She mumbled a quick 'okay fine' and Hunk smirked knowing he won the debate.

* * *

Just being logical and having common sense you would know the first few times don't work, but the last time does. Because obviously you would stop once you; you know, get it to work. Kind of like how you always find the television remote in the last place you look. You find in the last place you look because you're not going to look for the remote after finding it. You already have it in your hand. There's no point. So having Allura channel quintessence and the Lion's quintessence did basically nothing to Lance. Now, don't get me wrong. He felt the damn power. He felt the intensity of the age and raw power and just how ancient those robot beast were. He felt the experiences they have seen and felt. He felt their previous user's experiences. Lance actually threw up after the quintessence trial. It was so much information at once. There was so many things chipping away at his very being. He felt like something went into his very core and danced on it like it was a rug. He noted to never do that shit again because he felt so sick to his stomach they didn't try anything for another two days. The third day they wanted to do something else, but he wasn't ready. So they tried it the next day.

The last attempt was…different. The machine they had managed to built was very different from the previous ones. There was no bullshit pseudoscience magic garbage. Like with the quintessence or the time they tried stuff with crystals. Or the other time where they had tried energy from a different species. None of them worked and one of them scared him. The crystals gave him an ability that he didn't tell the others of. He could essentially used cryokinesis and was suddenly empathetic. In all honesty, that whole ordeal made him feel like an anime character. The energy from that weird planet (with honestly very dubious morals) just didn't do anything. He just felt somewhat refreshed. Was it relieving? A tad bit. Still not the results he was aiming for. That wasn't the results he craved.

Lance felt good about this one. Sure, there was still that queasy feeling in his stomach that clenched at him, reminding him it was most likely going to be just a failure. But he was feeling pretty hopeful, especially considering the fact this was the first time he convinced everybody. There was a loop where he only could convince Hunk. That was the 18th Loop if he recalls correctly. That was an…odd loop. While in the 16th Loop he managed to convince both Shiro and Keith. Doesn't matter though. All of that is just irrelevant information by this point. "What's powering this thing again?" He asked for the third time, just making sure he's hearing her right.

Pidge had a big toothy smile on her face instead of an annoyed scowl like he predicted she would have. "You know, the crystal." With her hand she wiped away sweat from her hairline. "I feel pretty confident that this baby is _actually_ going to work for once."

He puts on a mock scowl. "I don't like how you emphasize on the word actually." He rubs at both of his arms like he was cold. "That doesn't put any reassurance on me."

"Yeah? Well-"

"Pidge." Shiro stepped out from his place on the sidelines. "Let's," there was a momentary pause, "let's just try it out."

Pidge looks ready to add in something else to say, but she merely nods at her leader and flips on a few switches. All Hunk does is press a yellow button—of course, the machine powers up. A long tube that Lance can't see the end of lights up. He's pretty sure that thing was hooked up to something that housed a crystal. Great, more crystals. With a great big huff, the machine whirls to life. And a cacophony of a sound pierces through the air. Despite it hurting his ear drums Lance is in awe. The metal beast creates what seems to be a black and purple mass. Tiny unsystematic white dots covered its surface. Lance holds his breath in. It looks like a picture of universe. "This!" Pidge yells over the noise. "Should get you back, it uses-"

"Pidge! We don't have time for that!"

 _Hunk's right._ Lance thinks. They're nearing the stop when loop should reset. Damn, he hopes this works.

"Go!" Hunk waves to the…portal? Yeah, his friends just made a mini portal. Not as impressive as Allura's wormholes and besides, the shape of the portal looks like a tear in the time space continuum.

"Okay." Lance flashes his friends a smile and walks in. 'Peace out my dudes.' didn't seem like an appropriate thing to say to them. He should have looked behind him to see the reactions and the facial expressions, but he didn't. He didn't need to _know_. Not if this damned thing actually works.

* * *

Lance woke up.

It was dark. He rapidly blinks. Yup, it's just very dark in the…wherever he is. There are two things he quickly realizes. There's a blanket laying over him and he hears breathing that is not his own.

His stomach drops and his heart clenches as he knows exactly what happened.

It. Didn't. Work.

He was back in the Garrison.

There were different stages to his reaction. A sinking feeling of dread, a burst of warm anger, and just awash of sadness. It **didn't** fucking work. His screams of anguish and frustration and fear not only woke up his roommate Hunk, but the other cadets sleeping in the other rooms.

Needlessly to say Loop 26 was not pleasant.

* * *

*I'm going to be using this word to mean day since there does not seem to be a word for that yet. ((At the time when I first started writing this. I'm just gonna continue with it, 'cuz why not?))

 **Not my best work, I know. But I can't simply save this chapter. Doesn't matter. Now that this mess of a thing is out of the way, I can finish the other partially done chapter and post it. I have many other ideas for chapters/loops. So look forward to that because I swear the quality will be much higher and the length of the chapters will be longer.**


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